Category Archives: BlogNotes

I made the point, in my previous ShopNotes post, that a large part of what makes a person very successful – really, in any endeavor  – is the ability to generate original ideas that are good. You’re not going to be hugely successful just re-doing what someone else has already done; you must be original to really stand out and be really succesful.

I am trying to be more and more original in my woodworking; I get these little lightbulbs going off for an idea for this design, or that design, and it seems to be a very good idea – however, getting it from that initial vague idea to a finished product is very difficult – at least for me – and I’m a very creative person.

For instance, I’m trying to design a new mantle clock, in the Mission/Craftsman/Arts and Crafts style. It’s been very difficult, because you have to retain the hallmark style of this genre – straight lines, few curves – yet try to do something different as well, instead of the usual horizontal or vertical rectangular shape. Your only options with the dial face is either round, square, or if you dare, rectangular. I want this to be a mainline product, so I want construction to be pretty simple, and have a basic shape that I can them just ornament differently for different styles.

It’s making me a bit crazy.

I’ve looked around – a lot – for inspiration, and have found very little.

Then, there is trying to create a new piece entirely, in terms of a new piece of furniture, or for what I’m thinking, a table-top piece. It’s something people can use to remember others by; a kind of altar / photo holder. It would be something very different, and have sentimental emotion tied to it, which is never a bad thing for a product you’ve been trying to sell. That idea has been in the slow cooker in the back burner of my mind for a couple of years now. I’ve tried working it up in Sketchup, and free lance building a little prototype, but it’s just not there yet. It’s like a new stew I’m trying to create, but don’t have all the right spices for. I know it’s out there, somewhere in the land of dreams, and I’m trying to grab a hold of it, but it remains elusive.

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
-Albert Einstein

The Beatles

Being a world-class woodworker and a superstar musician have quite a bit in common – not that I’m either, just from my observations.

Why do some musicians – I’m thinking the Beatles and Bach – make it to the top, and have a permanence, and others don’t? Along the same lines, why do some woodworkers make it to the top – Maloof, Stickley and Krenov – and others don’t? What pattern are they following? I think I’ve identified some components:

• They are technically proficient. Great woodworkers and musicians have mastered the technical aspects of their profession, be that a piano or a dovetail.

• They are the pioneers. Who was the second man to step onto the moon? Name a famous Beatles tribute band. Exactly. The original – the person that does something really different – is the one that gets noticed, and usually, famous. Copying does nothing. I can copy a Krenov cabinet, but so what – thousands of other woodworkers can too.

• They have original ideas. The Beatles could play well, true – but so could other bands. Technically, they weren’t outstanding – none of the lads had formal instruction. Yet, they were outstanding. Why? Because of their songs. They wrote their own material and played it. Likewise, Maloof had his rocker, Stickley his simple designs and Krenov his cabinet. Notbody did like them (or as well as them) before they came along.

Sam Maloof

• They get noticed. Music is a performing art, so of course, they get noticed. They also have the benefit of easily being recorded and replayed for ever. We woodworkers have a harder time of it; we have to go to juried shows, or shows in which large scale buyers show up to get noticed (not including ads we take out, of course).

• They are passionate. They love what they do; they think about it just about all the time. They make time for it. Someone that isn’t usually passionate won’t excel in their field.

So there you have some reasons why some people excel in a field, while others flounder. Yes, you could get some guys together, and they can sound a lot like the Beatles; you can find a guy to make you a Krenov cabinet – but what’s hard to find is someone with the passion to excel, who can dream up new things, and be technically proficient enough to carry out their vision.

I have cobbled together a rather nice PDF detailing the way I do my mission style finishes, and I thought I’d share it with you! You can print it out and take it to the shop with you. I think you’ll find it easy and not expensive, and will give you consistent results. For the PDF, click here: Simple Mission Finish

Finishing. No, I don’t mean finishing the project, as in completing it, but rather applying stains or topcoats. It’s an interesting part of the project, because it can really make or break a project. Poorly, done, it can make an otherwise great project look amateurish, and just really ruin the beauty of the wood. Done well, it just sets the piece off wonderfully.  Common problems are blotchiness (think cherry), drips and sags, orange peel, dust – and glue squeeze outs, where the now-dried glue prevents any stain or dye from penetrating, and sticking out like a sore thumb. Sure, you can try to sand it down, but then you’ll you’ll probably leave a depression, because you have to sand quite deep, as the glue seeps into the pores quite a bit. Ugh.

I remember on my first big project, a mission coffee table, re-sanding the entire table three times because I screwed up the finish as many times, and I had to get it right; on the fourth try, I did. What a pain to sand into all those tight corners and tight spaces!

Finishing can be such a tough part of the job that there are actually guys out there that specialize in finishing, as in, they will professionally finish your piece for you. It’s really it’s own separate field, just as project design is. The type of wood must be taken into account, as well as the type of look you want – do you want to highlight the ray fleck in that quarter-sawn white oak, or play it down? Does your piece require a tough topcoat, or will a moderately hard one do? How do you get that glass smooth feel? And so many more issues.

As I’ve written in an earlier blog post (“Mistakes are Just Forced Opportunities”), mistakes can actually force you to be creative; however, when it comes to finishing, mistakes can be very costly – in terms of time. Stripping down a whole project can take hours, not to mention the good possibility of damaging it with sanding mistakes. It’s frustrating to have your project come out great up to this point, and a poor finish just make it look awful.

So I’d like to share a tip or two that hopefully will help you make that next project’s finish look great – and done only once!

Most people will complete a project, then finish it. With some projects, that’s fine – if you are painting it, for instance. However, if you run into a problem, such as drips or sags – found, of course, after the stain has dried – then all you can do is try to strip that particular portion of the project and re-stain or dye it;  good luck with that.

Here’s an angle you may have never considered – finish the parts before assembly. There’s several good reasons why:

• Easily strip and re-finish. Some time ago, I had a project that had ten ship-lapped boards on the back. I had applied the stain – carefully I thought – only to find that the stain had dripped down under a board, and onto another set of boards, hidden to me at the time. I found it the next day, after it had dried. Ugh. Tried removing it with solvent, but it looked blotchy; sanding was an option, but getting into the tight corners was almost impossible. The only solution was to remove the ship-lapped boards, make new ones, finish them and re-install them; looked much better. Had I finished them before installing them, and found a run (or other flaw), I could have easily seen and remedied it. 

• Prevent glue squeeze out issues. Even being very careful, squeeze outs can occur, and they are a bear to clean up – even when fresh. You want to get a good amount of glue on the joint – and certainly not starve the joint of glue for the sake of preventing glue squeeze out. The solution is prevention all together. Usually, I use a paste wax finish on my projects now; it gives the piece a very smooth, buttery feel, and a nice sheen. The bonus? Glue, if squeeze out should occur, will simply pull right off the wax once it hardens. No need for a chisel or sand paper – maybe a little spackle knife, but that’s all. In lieu of wax, I use blue painter’s tape right at the edge of the joint where the pieces intersect, to catch any glue; this works very well. The painter’s tape leaves no residue either.

• Much easier sanding. Some guys will put the whole piece together, then sand. That’s often a mistake, as tight spaces make it nearly impossible to sand the whole board consistently. Sanding and finishing before assembly eliminates this problem.

• Try out new finishes safely. Ok, I’m guilty of this – trying out that new stain or finishing technique – on the finished, assembled project, and not liking it! Can you hear me, cherry? Instead, take a scrap piece from the lumber you used on this project, and try out that new stain. Maybe you’ll have to adjust the final grit of sandpaper, whether to use a sealcoat, or other issues, but try it out more safely.

Now some of you might object to finishing before you assemble, because you fear damaging the finish when you do assemble it. That’s a valid point. Also, you have make sure you don’t finish parts of the project that will be glued, as the glue won’t stick obviously on dyes, stains or topcoats. You simply have to mask off those portions to be glued, and be careful when you use clamps, perhaps using a soft, sanded wood block as a cushion on each end of the clamp jaws; speaking of which – some Jorgensen clamps (as i recall) have orange colored pads on their clamps that will actually ooze an oil out when clamped to your wood – meaning, you’ll have to sand it out. If your pieces to be clamped are finished, this shouldn’t be an issue.

So next time you have a project, try finishing it before assembly; I think you’ll appreciate the benefits.

I just viewed a blog post over at CustomMade.com, a venue thru which I do a great deal of my work through (see my blog post about that here), concerning taking better photos of your work, an issue near and dear to my heart, and I’d thought I’d pass it along.

I’ll be doing a piece on that as well, with more detailed a practical info, in the future!

Sam Maloof

Are you the type of woodworker that wants to make it big? That is, have clients waiting for months from a piece from you; will pay the price you ask, and be featured in magazines? Many of us aspire to be; I know I do. Some of us are just content making nice things for ourselves and family. Nothing wrong with that. The guys that do well in this business are far and few between – at least it seems that way to me. Not that there isn’t a lot of talented guys out there, there certainly is. I’m speaking of the guys in the vein of a Sam Maloof, James Krenov or even Kevin Rodel. I have an aspiration to be in that league.  Let me make it clear – I’m not “making it big” right now in woodworking – either in standing or monetarily;  but I am continually working my way up, improving my skill sets, and wanted to share what I am doing – and trying to do – with you.

Like all professions, successful people in this field have certain traits and skill sets that, in my estimation at least, take them to the very top. In fact, it’s a pattern, of sorts; if you follow this pattern, you too may find yourself on top of the woodworking world. What I’ve listed below is probably not all-inclusive, but I think it does speak for a great part of that pattern I spoke of.

Originality. A lot of guys can take a plan and make a good piece from it, just as competent musicians can play great established tunes; but a great woodworker will be able to design a great piece, and carry it out, just like Lennon and McCartney wrote good songs and performed them.  Plainly put, if your design stinks, you’re going nowhere. Would we have heard of Sam Maloof without his rocker, or Krenov without his cabinet? Maybe not – they may have been just another very good – but not great – woodworker. Charles Limbert, Greene and Greene, Charles Rennie Mackintosh – all took from the Stickley Brothers; they designed along the same lines, but put there own design flair on the craftsman style.

Technical skills / Perfection. You need to be a proficient, if not an excellent, skilled craftsman; if you’re not, don’t bother selling. I’m not saying you need to be able to hand cut blind dovetails, build award-winning federalist furniture, or be skilled in the way of the Jedi Masters, but you need to have a piece that has solid joinery, and a very good, if not great, finish – at a minimum. Be proud that your name is on that piece of work. Personally, I try to be a perfectionist, at least in areas of a piece that are readily seen. If not, and that piece is going to be in my eyeshot, that little imperfection is all I’ll ever see on that piece, even thought it may be a great piece otherwise. In fact, I find that I have to not look at the piece for several months (if not a year or more), then go back and look at it, with “fresh eyes”, and re-evaluate it again, before I can say, “Yes, that one’s ok.” Aim for perfection.

Passionate. You need to show you have a zeal for woodworking. How do you expect others to get excited about your pieces, if you don’t? So how do you show passion? Well, you can show it in your descriptive text concerning the piece, or when you are showing it to a possible patron.

Photography. What good is building a great piece, if you have crap photography? I see so many guys with just abysmal photography. A white bed sheet draped over your couch as the backdrop, and a cheap cell phone camera, seriously? I get you may not have decent equipment or be trained in how to take a good photo – nor do you wish to learn how to do so – but get somebody who can. Maybe a photography student from a local college that is looking to beef up their portfolio. Doesn’t your piece deserve to be presented in the best manner possible?

Marketing. Forget craft shows, unless you just want to sell cutting boards, or other cheap items. Let’s face it, there isn’t, unfortunately, a big market for good woodworking. You need to leverage the power of the Internet, because a national, if not international market is required. My advice? Yes, you can have your own website – and not spend much, if any money; just use WordPress for your platform. Alternately (or in addition to), get an account at CustomMade.com. I’ve done fabulous on that site, and their fees are decent. I don’t see any benefit of selling thru a retail location on commission (seriously, you want 50% of my take? I’ll give you 20% max; you’re putting no money into stock, just a little space in your shop; sorry lady).  Etsy is ok, but that’s very much a craft woman’s place. It’s not much for expensive furniture, though smaller wood pieces do ok.

A Story. People love to buy into a story, whether it be the piece, you, or both. I’m not saying you have to write Moby Dick, but give the people something for their imagination to bite into. Here’s an example of what I mean, for, let’s say, a mantle clock:

Small craftsman clock, all maple, from a classic Stickley design. 17″ x 12″ x 5″.

Snooze. Now how about this….

I took the design of this clock from a piece I viewed at the estate of George Eastman, founder of Kodak. I asked the curator to let me take photos of it for design purposes. The wood used for it was actually from a tree that was blown down in a storm from his estate’s property, right here in Rochester NY.

So, which is more interesting to you? Same clock, different description. As for yourself, can you add anything? Something like this, perhaps:

My shop is located at the base of Whiteface mountain, in the Adirondacks of New York state. I buy my lumber from a local sawyer, as I like to support the local economy. Wood crafting has been a passion of mine since my grandfather took me into his shop some weekends, when I was only 15, and together, we made some simple, but useful pieces. I still have a small side table we built together…

Or, would you rather have something like this:

Woodworking since 1989. I’m a mechanic by trade, but I do this on the side. My shop is over 1200 square feet, and I have all DeWalt power tools, and is in the Detroit area…

Well, do you see the difference? When people spend money on a quality piece – and let’s face it, the stuff the better guys make is several times more expensive then what you’d buy at a retail furniture store – they don’t want just a piece of furniture, but a story behind it as well.

Reputation. Having one helps – a lot. I’m talking about being in Fine Wood Working magazine, or on a show, magazine, or other prominent venue. This will come in time – if you are good. My mentor is such a man. He can have all the commissions he wants. Thing is, he doesn’t do practical pieces, like furniture, but he does art woodworking – sculptures and such. When you think about it, a great idea. For one, not many guys do it, and for another, clients who want art usually have a ton of dough to be able to blow on it.

So there you have it, my observations on how to make it big – or at least, bigger. If you have any ideas on this topic, I’d love to hear it.